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Non Tool Forum => The Break Room => Topic started by: Mike, Lord of the Spammers! on May 23, 2012, 01:20:46 PM

Title: Lottery win?
Post by: Mike, Lord of the Spammers! on May 23, 2012, 01:20:46 PM
Wendsdays are typically a slowish day here, so let's spice it up a bit :)

What would you spend your money on if you won, say the equivalent of a million pounds? :)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Neil on May 23, 2012, 01:27:02 PM
Pay off the bloody mortgage! Buying a house feels very much like this  :_c:


I know how to party :D  :drink:
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Mike, Lord of the Spammers! on May 23, 2012, 01:31:50 PM
Don't say that me :o

Mel and I are seeing a morgage advisor Friday to see about buying a house :ahhh :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Neil on May 23, 2012, 01:42:49 PM
Everyone says its a good idea long term but I still wish I hadn't  :-\

I get itchy feet and its not too hard to move every couple of years when you rent, pain in the arse when you buy.  Then there's the maintenance costs that you never properly factor in until after you buy  :oops:

There is probably a time and place when its right to buy rather than rent but I don't think I picked those too well  :whistle: 

...

Oh, I'd buy a new car as well :D

And an orbital spinner and other fun but too expensive tools.

Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Mike, Lord of the Spammers! on May 23, 2012, 01:45:39 PM
I don't mind renting as it's what I've always done, but it is £250 more than a morgage down this way ::)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Neil on May 23, 2012, 01:56:47 PM
That's a jump.  Last time I checked round here (about seven years ago)  There was very little difference between mortgage and rental prices, it swung both ways depending on property.  £250 a month covers a lot of running repairs.  Think I'd buy.... maybe ;)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: borgwarrior on May 23, 2012, 01:59:08 PM
I would tidy up my vacation house, buy a new car, and put the rest in the bank for a hefty interest, so I wouldn't have to worry about $ for the rest of my life. :)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: dks on May 23, 2012, 02:25:09 PM
I would donate all the money to Multitool.org.  :whistle:


(I hope this statement is not legally binding..  :-\ )


Or buy some Facebook shares..  :rofl:

 :D Probably buy some land or gold. They are the only thing guaranteed to go up these days
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: derekmac on May 23, 2012, 03:14:10 PM
Hmm, that's 1.6 million Canadian   :think:  I would pay off all bills, buy a BMW M3, a big truck and fifth wheel, the craziest Jeep money can build (and I'd try and do the build myself), and do a ton of traveling!

I'd also buy every MT and SAK know to man, just so I can compete with some here 
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: borgwarrior on May 23, 2012, 03:26:43 PM
I'd also buy every MT and SAK know to man, just so I can compete with some here
That ain't a bad idea, I haven't thought into that yet! :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: edcgear on May 23, 2012, 03:45:34 PM
I'd buy a huge piece of land...

I'd buy a nice excavator and dig a hole...

I'd buy a long fuse and trigger... Followed by serious amount of TNT... Put'em all in hole...

Then I'd buy every single piece of ABBA record (CD, Vinyl, tape.... EVERYTHING), every TV show taped about them, every single article written, tapes of radio shows... Everything.... And blow them from face of the earth....

Sorry ABBA lovers, I just CAN imagine my life without them....  >:D >:D

Now serious.... I'd buy a piece of exotic parodise, build a beach bar/pub and live from that....
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: magentus on May 23, 2012, 03:52:11 PM
I'd buy a couple of acres of land with a small wood and a water source on the edge of a town, and build a little self sufficient house and use the rest to never ever have to work for someone else ever again.
Oh, and I'd get one of those dustbin incinerators. I love them.

Having said all that I don't actually do the lottery so I'll have to rely on someone else winning and bunging some my way.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: nuphoria on May 23, 2012, 04:15:40 PM
A home. Without a doubt.

Somewhere quiet with enough land for a small holding (and MTO meetups), and a big garage space full of machines and toys for me to make/break things with :)

My dream would be as much self sufficiency as possible for food and power, and being far away enough from the neighbours to not have to put up with their noise, smells and cr@p all the time. A million might just make that doable with some planning.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Zed on May 23, 2012, 04:19:39 PM
Buy a house so not wasteing £825 a month  :-\ oh and a aston martin dbs  ::) and a few MT's  ;) oh and a few bikes  :ahhh  not sure  million is enough  :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: magentus on May 23, 2012, 04:22:26 PM
being far away enough from the neighbours to not have to put up with their noise, smells and cr@p all the time.

+1 to that - I'm quite glad we rent at the moment because our nice neighbours sold up and 3 noisy boys have moved in - their daddy bought them the house, they work but are so so noisy and come in drunk at all hours at the weekend. We've got the council and the police involved and it's working at last, but if it doesn't we can just leave within a month which I'm so pleased about. I resent all the money we'd have to pay though...............
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Threeme2189 on May 23, 2012, 04:25:26 PM
I'd offer my parents a chunk of it and throw the rest in the bank for a looooooooong time.
And I would keep quiet about the whole thing.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: edcgear on May 23, 2012, 04:48:49 PM
An old joke that last long here in Serbia...

An old lady on her knees addressing to God before sleep...

"Dear God, please make me win the lottery...."

Next evening same pic... Old lady on knees addressing to God before sleep....

"Dear God, show your kindness and help me win lottery...."

Next eve, the same... And so it goes for over a week....

At last one evening, sky opens... A divine light fall on old lady, and deep soft voice said...

God: "Dear lady, you're the one praying for lottery win??"

"Yes, that's me!", Said old lady joyful...

God (a bit upset): "Well, when will you buy that ticket?!?"

 :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: magentus on May 23, 2012, 04:55:42 PM
An old joke that last long here in Serbia...

An old lady on her knees addressing to God before sleep...

"Dear God, please make me win the lottery...."

Next evening same pic... Old lady on knees addressing to God before sleep....

"Dear God, show your kindness and help me win lottery...."

Next eve, the same... And so it goes for over a week....

At last one evening, sky opens... A divine light fall on old lady, and deep soft voice said...

God: "Dear lady, you're the one praying for lottery win??"

"Yes, that's me!", Said old lady joyful...

God (a bit upset): "Well, when will you buy that ticket?!?"

 :D :D :D :D

 :rofl: :cheers:
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: borgwarrior on May 23, 2012, 05:38:50 PM
An old joke that last long here in Serbia...

An old lady on her knees addressing to God before sleep...

"Dear God, please make me win the lottery...."

Next evening same pic... Old lady on knees addressing to God before sleep....

"Dear God, show your kindness and help me win lottery...."

Next eve, the same... And so it goes for over a week....

At last one evening, sky opens... A divine light fall on old lady, and deep soft voice said...

God: "Dear lady, you're the one praying for lottery win??"

"Yes, that's me!", Said old lady joyful...

God (a bit upset): "Well, when will you buy that ticket?!?"

 :D :D :D :D
My girlfriend started playing lottery after I told her the exact same joke.  :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Lynn LeFey on May 23, 2012, 05:46:30 PM
We buy a lottery ticket when the jackpots get insanely high, like 150 million and over.

With $1.25 million U.S. ...

Sell our current house at a loss. It's a little house, someone in real need could use it, and even if we gave it away, it wouldn't hurt too bad after a lottery win.

Get a nice house on a nice chunk of land. That's only going to run in the quarter million range around here. Alot some to 'fun money', to buy some neat toys. Sock the rest away.

Not very interesting, but there you have it.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Gryffin on May 23, 2012, 06:01:31 PM
Let's see, at current exchange rates, that's $1,570,354 in American Pesos. I'm assuming that's a cash payout, rather than an annuity.

First off, the Fedrul Gummint will lop 35% off the top; my state, another 10% (ugh). That leaves me with $863,695.

The usual rule of thumb for retirement is that you can spend ~5% of your nestegg each year without reducing the principal, so that means a fixed income of $43,000/year, or $3,600/month.

So much for retiring to Monaco and dating supermodels...
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Syph007 on May 23, 2012, 06:44:48 PM
Oh Id want to buy as much land as i could get. Build a nice house on it, grow some food in a big garden, raise some animals, build a big workshop... oh boy... :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: nuphoria on May 23, 2012, 06:47:46 PM
You are no fun Gryffin!

Although I suffer from the same sense of realism ::)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Gryffin on May 23, 2012, 07:55:14 PM
Although I suffer from the same sense of realism ::)

Reality is highly overrated.  :-\
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Mercury on May 23, 2012, 07:56:43 PM
I'm kinda with Gryffin here.  I would take the lump sum and put about 80% in a high yeild CD or some other interest bearing account, the 20% I kept out would go towards paying off all my debt, and I would just happily go to work the next day.  With a few new shiny MT's of course!
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Lynn LeFey on May 23, 2012, 08:12:24 PM
First off, the Fedrul Gummint will lop 35% off the top; my state, another 10% (ugh).

Federal Government takes 25%, not 35%. Whatever figure you found might have added your state and federal together for the 35% you quoted.

Here's the Mega Millions payout information, as an example:
http://www.usamega.com/mega-millions-jackpot.asp (http://www.usamega.com/mega-millions-jackpot.asp)

In Illinois, we'd get another 5% taken in state tax, for a total of 30%.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Syph007 on May 23, 2012, 08:14:53 PM
in Canada lotto winnings arent taxed, so in my dream fantasy I get it all.. mwhahahaha
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: enki_ck on May 23, 2012, 08:18:06 PM
Now serious.... I'd buy a piece of exotic parodise, build a beach bar/pub and live from that....

 :rofl: Every guy here dreams of owning a bar. Must be a cultural thing. ;)

I'd travel, go to a few UK meets, buy a vacation home on the coast... and put the rest in the bank.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Gryffin on May 23, 2012, 08:47:49 PM
Federal Government takes 25%, not 35%. Whatever figure you found might have added your state and federal together for the 35% you quoted.

Let me clarify...

The IRS will withhold 25%, but the top tax bracket is 35%, so come April 15th, unless your accountant can somehow make it look like you gave it all to charity, you're gunna owe the full 35%. So that's the rate I used.

(If I really wanted to be pedantic, the top marginal rate on income above $388,350 is 35%, the portion below $388,350 would be tax incrementally at different rates, to the effective overall rate would be slightly lower than 35%. If I did the math right, it would be 33.54%, to be precise.)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: captain spaulding on May 23, 2012, 08:50:43 PM
I would cover every wall in one room with different alox scales.  :tu:
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Steinar on May 23, 2012, 08:59:46 PM
Put it in a few different banks. Look into opening an overseas bank account. (For safety against economic instability of the currency and long term economy in my own country.) Go to work as usual, but a lot safer than before.

Exciting? Right?   :rofl:

Yeah, and I would do something fun with a small part of the money. Perhaps rent a driver for my next vacation and sample half the calvados in Normandie or a tenth of the beer in Franken. :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: ironraven on May 24, 2012, 01:30:39 AM
First thing, half goes in the bank for the tax man. Anything left after that goes into some charity trusts (NRA, Knife Rights, EFF, my parent's retirement).

Pay off my student debt. Pay off the truck. Pay for a new roof on my parent's place-those three should be about $65K. Piss off my boss and walk away laughing before starting to look for a better job without worrying about how I'm going to eat for six months (that $43K fixed income that was mentioned plus not having my loan payments would be a ~45% functional pay increase for me).
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: derekmac on May 24, 2012, 01:40:38 AM
Forgot this in my other post, I'd donate $250,000 to our local children's hospital.  I'd love to be in the position to be able to do that!!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: bushidomosquito on May 24, 2012, 09:55:46 AM
After I got back from Amsterdam and got my head clear, a loaded FJ Cruiser, a carbon fiber kayak, a titanium mountain bike or 3 and some various other extreme outdoor gear. Then I hit every off road mountain bike kayak dream spot in this country one at a time until I'm either broke, dead or I decide it's time for a change of pace and I go work in a cubicle.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: El Rago on May 24, 2012, 07:59:36 PM
Millon pounds, eh?  thats about 1.25 mil/€. Reality has to kick in. The good news here in spain is that, most of the lotteries that can make that payoff are tax free (not, however, on the interest you make out of said money). So, first off, pay off a lot of debts I have (2 years sans work, can definitly cramp your style). Then a house. The missus wants a typical house (chalet, as it is called here). I would go for a pent house (atico, as it is refered over here). then pay off some (small) gifts to significant ppl.

then for the great stuff, a trip, a GTR, and some of Bushidomosquito and Spyph007 custom alox.

I guess the rest to the bank, no high interest issues, just the regular. The world is not stable enough for high risk.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Grant Lamontagne on May 24, 2012, 08:06:38 PM
Sadly a million really isn't a lot nowadays.  I know a guy who won a million dollars a few years ago, and he's still working at the same job.  By the time you realize how little it actually is, for a lot of people it's too late.

Think about it this way- if you make $50,000/year, which is a comfortable but not outlandish amount for where I live (my wife makes more than that, but I don't  :facepalm:) then that's 20 years' worth of your current salary/lifestyle, which is great, assuming that you don't plan to live more than 20 more years.  Most people want to retire by 60-65 years old and most folks here live well into their 90's now, meaning even if you hang in working until you are 70 you are still in trouble every day after 90.  Of course if you are careful and budget your golden years then you could likely live out the rest of your days in relative comfort... assuming that you win that money later on.

If, like me you are still under 40 then quitting your job is a very bad idea- I could probably stretch the money out for 30 years or so, but imagine having to be a former millionaire working at Wal Mart as a greeter to pay the electric bill?

Your best bet in most situations would be to keep your job for another 5-10 years until most things you have are paid down (or off) and let that money collect interest in a high yield bank account, which could net you somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000/year, which in addition to your current salary would allow you to retire a lot earlier, and take much more interesting vacations each year until you do.

You know... if you really wanted to think about it and do the right thing.... :P

Def
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Mercury on May 24, 2012, 10:31:23 PM
I agree Grant.  I would be happy though even with a million.  My wife has taught me a ton about money and how I don't need to spend as much as I want to to be happy.  She could go without new socks if I'd let her, and she makes more than me as well.  She runs her cars until they just absolutely can't run anymore(buy toyota!) and makes every penny count.  We would definitely use a bit of that million to pay off debt, but both of us would continue to work and pursue career goals. 
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Lynn LeFey on May 24, 2012, 10:59:04 PM
She runs her cars until they just absolutely can't run anymore(buy toyota!) and makes every penny count.

Truth.

They should have an 'economics for reality' class every high school kid must take.
First lesson: Get an old Corolla.
Second lesson: when that car explodes into a pile of rust, get ANOTHER old Corolla.

:D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Gryffin on May 25, 2012, 12:08:48 AM
They should have an 'economics for reality' class every high school kid must take.
First lesson: Get an old Corolla.
Second lesson: when that car explodes into a pile of rust, get ANOTHER old Corolla.

Would you get AP credit for buying an old British or Italian car?

 :whistle:
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Grant Lamontagne on May 25, 2012, 07:44:14 AM
I would never buy a Corolla or any other Toyota, but that's a discussion for another time.  In the same spirit, buy a Jeep instead of a Corolla- while Toyota (and Honda) may claim that on average they have the highest resale values, the reality is that Jeep Wranglers have the highest resale.

http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7970531/the-general-forum/jeep-has-the-highest-resale-value-among-domestic-b/index.html (http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7970531/the-general-forum/jeep-has-the-highest-resale-value-among-domestic-b/index.html)

My boss just bought a nice new 4 door Wrangler Sahara a few months ago, for somewhere around $31,000.  In five years he'll easily get $20,000 for it- I know because just around the corner from me is a 2007 two door Rubicon with 70,000kms on it listed for $19,995.  That means the Jeep is retaining over 60% of it's value in 5 years, which is awesome.  My Jeep is 12 years old (2000 model) and I could probably get close to $8,000 for it.  No Toyota resales for that percentage, plus they tend to cost a lot more than that new.  And, you can't fix a Toyota in the yard as easily as a Jeep (more savings!) plus with a Jeep you get lifetime roadside assistance- if you ever break down at the side of the road, another Jeep owner will be along momentarily to help you out.

My boss is actually kind of annoyed by the fact that he gets more attention on his $30k Jeep with the doors off and top down than he does in his $100k Jaguar XKR!  :P

Def
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: dks on May 25, 2012, 08:27:15 AM
I do not know if you can fix a new Jeep nowadays easily.

I used to fix (a bit) my older cars (70s to 90s models) quite easily and was happy doing it but I would not dream of trying to mess with my newer cars, with electronic engine management, tight tolerances, utilising every mm of the engine bay making it hard to see anything..

Generally 4x4s keep their value as a 30 year+ old PROPER offroader can go up a hill the same way as a new PROPER offroader, if its condition is good. Also most 4x4s will have quite solid built, engine etc. (though I am about to pay 280Euro for a repair on one, after already spending 1000 on it only last month... but it is a a 1990 model..)
Same with tractors really; a 30 year old can pull a plough like a newer one.. so why not buy an old one?
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Grant Lamontagne on May 27, 2012, 01:33:50 PM
I don't know about the new ones- I suppose I should get my boss to open his hood sometime and we can have a poke around.  I will say that as far as modern cars go, you can probably do more with a Jeep than most others.  Chrysler's one cash cow is Jeep, and while they have made some steps to water down the brand (Patriot, Compass etc) they have always been true to the off road crowd.  While they may screw around with other stuff they keep the Wrangler series "good" and part of what makes it "good" is the fact that it can be fixed almost anywhere with just about anything.  If they stray too far from that then they will lose everything Jeep is about.

I don't know what car prices are like over there, but here Jeeps rarely sell for less than $5000, regardless of age or condition.  My Jeep was $7000 when I bought it, with well over 110,000 miles, had been written off by an insurance company (someone set fire to it) and ten years old.  I got it because I had the cash to buy it outright.  I was looking at newer models- anything between 2001-2004 were $13,000- 15,000 and I would have had to finance them.  Going that route, I would pay about 7% interest which would have cost me about $350/month.  For $350/month, I can have a brand new one, with only 3% interest.  The new ones start at around $17,000, and the difference in interest rates (~3% on a new one vs ~7% on a used one) pretty well evens out the price tags.

So the question becomes, why buy a used one when a new one costs the same amount but has a warranty and you can get your choice of options, color etc?

Def
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: dks on May 27, 2012, 02:32:49 PM
The problem here is the larger engines, as most proper 4x4s tend to be at least 2.5L and usually 3L, Diesels (apart from Suzukis). Also cars are generally expensive anyway.

Since anything over 2L gets taxed heavily, and 4x4s also tend to pollute more thus getting the full pollution tax too, new ones will have nearly 20000 Euros tax on them, to begin with.
So prices start at around 35000 Euros...

Used ones will rarely go below 3000 Euros, if they are decent.

Have a look here for the used Jeeps prices and bear in mind that Jeeps here are seen as more of a fashion statement (and very few were actually bought, especially with the bigger engines), rather than hard working 4x4s, so they are generally in decent condition.

http://www.bestcypruscar.com/index.php?cond=make=21 (http://www.bestcypruscar.com/index.php?cond=make=21)
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Grant Lamontagne on May 27, 2012, 02:51:41 PM
Here anything under 2L is only only found in a sewing machine... even our lawnmowers are all over 2L!

Interestingly enough, there's not much difference in the fuel efficiency between my 2.5L five cylinder VW Golf and the current Pentastar engine found in the new Jeeps.

Golf (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/31198.shtml)

Jeep (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/32001.shtml)

For comparison sake, here are the official numbers for my Jeep, although with 12 years and 225,000 kms behind it I'm not sure I get anywhere near as good as this!  :P

Def's Jeep (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/16360.shtml)

Def
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: dks on May 27, 2012, 03:04:23 PM
It is funny how your Jeep and the new one have similar consumption.

Most VW Golfs here will be with the smaller (under 2L) engines with the Tubocharger.

What a lot of people miss is that if you put a small engine in a big car you have to push it harder, so the consumption tends to be similar or higher than with a bigger engine. But, you do save a lot on tax...
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: borgwarrior on May 27, 2012, 03:13:33 PM
I own a '99 2.5l Chrysler Stratus, and it consumes same as a 2011 European Toyota Corolla, 1.6L.
This clearly means that not nessecarly the smallers consumes less. :) Exactly what dks said, little engine+big car=guzzling...
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Grant Lamontagne on May 27, 2012, 03:18:52 PM
The fine folks at Quadratec are giving away a new Jeep modified with a Hemi.

http://www.quadratec.com/JKgiveaway/ (http://www.quadratec.com/JKgiveaway/)

This is really what I want- even though it is a much larger engine (5.7L vs my current 4.0L or the new 3.6L Pentastar) it operates on 4 cylinders until the extra power is needed.  According to the same site the full sized Dodge Ram isn't much different than my Jeep, despite it being about twice the weight:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/31863.shtml (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/31863.shtml)

So, take the same engine and put it in asignificantly lighter truck and the fuel economy would be awesome while still having HUGE power available whenever you need it.  I'd enter the giveaway in a second but they want $100 shipping to Canada for pretty well everything they have.

 ::)

Def
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: dks on May 27, 2012, 03:28:21 PM
With an engine that big you will probably need new tyres every week..  :D
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Chako on May 27, 2012, 04:48:40 PM
What I would do if I won the lottery...well...I guess it would be what I would do if I didn't but had the cash.  :D

1. Give $100,000 to the neighbour. She is a single mom making ends meet on a paltry disability pension. we help each other out and are there for each other (good friends). I couldn't ask for a better neighbour. That money would help her out tremendously. She would deserve it.

2. I would buy a newer vehicle. I would buy a used vehicle a few years old. Something practical...maybe another minivan or SUV.

3. I would invest in GICs and dump the rest in savings accounts at various banks...seeing that only $100,000 is insured here in Canada per establishment. That would force me to seed the money at various institutions.

4. I just might go on an MT spending spree (like that hasn't happened before). I have pretty much all I want or need in plier based MTs. I am to the point where all I have to do is upkeep with the new models...but there are still ultra rare items I don't have. I would probably go nuts with the SAKs, especially the super expensive ones I have a hard time justifying to myself to get these days.

I know, dull and boring, but that is what I would do.
Title: Re: Lottery win?
Post by: Mercury on May 27, 2012, 08:55:47 PM
What I would do if I won the lottery...well...I guess it would be what I would do if I didn't but had the cash.  :D

1. Give $100,000 to the neighbour. She is a single mom making ends meet on a paltry disability pension. we help each other out and are there for each other (good friends). I couldn't ask for a better neighbour. That money would help her out tremendously. She would deserve it.

2. I would buy a newer vehicle. I would buy a used vehicle a few years old. Something practical...maybe another minivan or SUV.

3. I would invest in GICs and dump the rest in savings accounts at various banks...seeing that only $100,000 is insured here in Canada per establishment. That would force me to seed the money at various institutions.

4. I just might go on an MT spending spree (like that hasn't happened before). I have pretty much all I want or need in plier based MTs. I am to the point where all I have to do is upkeep with the new models...but there are still ultra rare items I don't have. I would probably go nuts with the SAKs, especially the super expensive ones I have a hard time justifying to myself to get these days.

I know, dull and boring, but that is what I would do.

I can honestly say that I would probably begin collecting with the goal of getting at least a little close to your collection.  At least every LM model I can get, and more SAK's than one should have!

As it is I think I am going to start collecting Vic Classics and Wenger Esquires.